Ranti



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

MEANSFGRT'DISTRIVBIITING*ELECTRIC ENERGY.

No. 435,114. Paten-ted Ang; 26, 18.90.

(No Moel.) 5 sheets-sheet 2. S. Z. DE FERRAN'I'I.

MEANS FOR DISTRIB`UTING ELECTRIC-ENERGY. No. 435,114. l Patented Aug. 26, 1890.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3. S. Z. DE EERRANTI. MEANS FOR DISTRIBUTl TG ELECTRIC ENERGY.

PatentedAug. 26, 1890.

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

s. z. ,DBFBRRANTL MEANS FOR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC ENERGY.

No. 435,114( Patented Aug-26, 1890.

'in France,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sEBAs'rIAN DEY EERRANTI, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

MEANS Fon oIsTRIBin-me ELECTRIC ENERGY'.

SPEClFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,114, dated 'August 26, 1890.

Application tiled April 18, 1887.l Serial No.

235,192. (No model.) Patented in BnglandDecember 9, 1885, N0..15,141, and

`December 11, 1885, No. 15,251; in rarf December-9, 1B86,No.180,176; in Belgium .Tanpary 8,1887, No. 75,875, and in Italy March 31, 1887, No. 21,119.

To aZZ whom it' may concern.:

`. Be tkn'own that I, SEBASTIAN ZIANI. DE FER- RANTI, electrician, a subject ofthe Queen of -Grcat Britain, .residing at St. Benet Chambers, Fenchurch Street, inthe city of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improved Means for Distributing Electric lnergy, of which the-following is aspeciiica- Ion.

Letters Patent on this' inventionhave been Granted.. to me in the. following countries: in

Great Britain, No. 15,111, dated December 9, 1,885, and No. 15,251,dated December 11,1885;l No. 180,17 6, dated December 9, 1886; in 1t'aly,.No. 21,119, dated March 31, 18.87, and in BelgiumQNc. 7&,87dated Jann ary 8, 1887.

In the distribution of electric energy for electric lighting, or, it might be, as a source of motive power or for other uses, lemploy a dynamo-electric machine generating alternating currents of high intensity, and by means of converters which I have inventedI obtainfrom these currents other lalternating currents, l near the building or piace where of -lower intensity in each case, in or the lights are to be exhibited or theenergy utilized.

-To insure safety,'I provide fuses orantematic cut-outs in the connections between the dynamo and the converters. It short-circuiting occurs in the secondary vor light circuit,

v'the fuse or cut-out in the primary or dynamo connection immediately acts and prevents connections between v dynamo-circuit are severed nearly simultage. For greater security I so arrange v-. :tlevfuses that when they operate both of the the converter and the neously.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 shows a side elevation,onehalf in section,ofaoonverter constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, one-half in section.

. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same. A portion is broken out or omitted from the sions of the figure. Figs. 4 and 5 show a modifienter of the apparatus to reduce the dimencation. Fig. 6 shows the general arrangement' of theA circuits, together with the safety cutout. shows the arrangement of fuse or cut-out which is preferred. Figs. 1,2;and`3 are v5o drawn to aboutone-fourth the actual size, and show a converter suitable for supplying on c secondary circuit in which, say, seventy incan descent lamps are included, and tov maintain a tension between the leads of thelampfcircuit of one hundred volts, thetension of the alternating current in the primary or dynamo circuit being two thousandfour hundred volts. A A is a cast-'iron frame or casing made in two main parts, which are held together bybolts B B. By way of precaution the parts of the frame are-more or less insulated from each other. v C C C represent ribbons of ,soft Swedish iron about one thirty-second of an inch .in` thick- 6,5 ness formed in'to bundles.. The di'erent rib bons in each bundle are notV in, metallic contact, being separated by paper. The paper is cemented to the ribbons. Each ribbon is thus covered on one side for one halfof the length and for the other half it is covered upon the other side. The ribbons after receiving the' windings upon them are bent round and made vto overlap at their ends, and Where they so- Aoverlap the two endsot each ribbon are in 75 metallic contact; buteveryribbon is separated by the paper from the other adjacent ribbons. Thus eac.' ribbon forms aringin'which there is a complete magnetic circuit. In the conforter shown by the drawingsfour such bundles of ribbons C C are indicated; but the number and dimensions will vary according to the size and capacity of the converter. Around the central part of each bundle a tap# ing is applied to keep it together, and then before the ends of the ribbons are brought together the coil or spiral of copper rod D is passed around thebundle so that the coil D surrounds the central parts of the four-bundles. f

To separate thecoil D from the bundles, short insulators or chairs E E, of vulcanized fiber or vulcanite, are inserted. Over the coils D, I apply rings F F, previously prepared and Wound upon a former. Each ring consists of an innerlayer F of insulated material. (Paper saturated with shellac varnish is-that which- I employ.) `Over 'this is a winding of-opper fourth that ot' the ,rod l)`'and the number of convolutions is twentystonr foreach turn which the spiral'D makes around the core of iron-ribbons C.

As shown in the drawings, each ring is made l to overlap two convolutinsot the coil D, and

it contains forty-eight turns Vot wire. The rings F F should be applied around the bundle C While the shellac insulation is still in a more or less plastic condition, The. wires of the rings F F are then connected electrically from ring to ring, so as to form a continuous circuit through all the rings. from end to end of the apparatus. The terminal wires of the series of rings are then brought out and are 'electrically connected with the metal blocks G G, 'which are secured in their places by the screw-pieces H ll. These pieces have iianges upon them, and insulated washers are embraced between the flanges and the'blocks G. These insulating-Washers are inserted into apertures provided in the frame A to receive them.. l

In each piece H- there is a conical recess adapted to receive a ferrule l. To these ferrnles the electric leads from the dynamo are attached in such manner as to insure a good connection.

K is a coverplate through which these leads pass. The holes in the cover-plate are bushedwith insulatingwashers to insure due isolation ot' the leads.

The coupling of the leads with the rings F F is thus eected 'simply .by screwing up' the bolt K', which secures the cover` and thereby forcibly thrusting the ferrules-l into the-conical recesses in the screw-pieces ll H. The v'copper coil or spiral D, intended to form part of the lamp-circuit, is similarly brought to terminals on the' other side of the machine. The connections are made in the manner already described, except that the dimensions of the leads are diierent, and that this being the low-tension circuit the thickness of the insulating material is diminished., A lesser separation of the metallic parts willhere suf-4 tice.

lt will be observed in this machine free spaces for ventilation are left between the several-bundles C, and between these and the coil D, and again. between the coils and the rings of coiled Wire F; This vis an important feature in converters of which the dimensions are at all considerable, as it allows currents of air to pass freely through and to carry oit the heat which 'is generated in working.

lfignfl` 4is a plan, partly in section, ot' a conwith apertures in it,

ddii, il lill verter in the form of a Gruinme ring.. The ligure shows two forms, the one to the lett andthe other to the right of the ligure. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section.

I will describe first the arrangement shown on the left side ot Fig. Il. M is the central bundle of soft-iron ribbons. Over this there 'is applied on insulation N, consisting of a lapping of paper and shellac. 'Upon this the copper-spiral O is wound. .v -Gutside the copper there is another insulating-covering P.. Q Q are rings formedot insulated wire and corresponding to the ringsF in Figs. l, 2, and 3. They are coupled together to torni the pria, mary or dynamo circuit, as already explained. R is an outer coveringot insulated material separating the rings Q from an outside jacket S, formed of thin sheets of sott iron, either made into rings or simply wound upon the outside of the converter, so as to form :imagnetic circuit outside the rings Q continuous from end to end of the winding. T is a simi lar hoop or hoops of soft iron within the 'rings Q, and there also forming a closed or' partially-closed magnetic circuit.

The description.already given applies to the arrangement on the left. side ot the gure'. 0n the right side the primary and secondary `wires are wound upon the ring as an ordinary Gramme ring is Wound. The former an rangement, however, is preferable, because the construction is easier, and also because ventilation-spaces are left, which is a matter of much importance. The ends ot the coreribbons M are brought together after the coils or rings are upon them, and the two ends et each ribbon are placed in metallic contact,

while by an insulation of paper each ring is separated from its neighbor. The part et the ring in which this overlapping taires place is left'unwound.

The converters which l havcldescribed in this specification may be used not only for reducing from a high tension to a low, but also for in-creasing from a low tension to a high, or simply for transferring energy from one circuit 'to another. 'Thus for example,

in electric lighting it may sometimes he conveulent to use dynamo-electric machines which maintain a potential of one hundred. volts only and to increase this potentialin the main conductor by means ot. a converter, say, to two thousand four hundred volm. ln such a case a converter such as is shown by Figs. l, 2, and 3 would be suitable, the dyr -namo being then connected 'with the copper coil l) and the hightension main to thev rings F E l make these converters of all sizes, from'a'few ounces in weight,`tor telephonie use and for other purposes Where the amount;y

of electrical energy to be converted is small, vup to a ton or more in weight, where the. elecu trical energy to he converted is large. Be'- yond the latter dimensions it may perhaps 'rte ISO

be more convenient to employ several con.n s

vel-ters to supply the same main circuit.

Fig. 6 shows the Way in which .or

outs may be applied to prevent an undue vamount of energy being developed' in any.

' converter' and to'prevent Iossby leakage. U

1s the dynamo. V V

W.' and W2 W2 with X?, which are represented as in connection -wlthlamp-circuits Y'l Y2. Z'Z are fuses which lI 'intrbduce' into the branches V-W and W2.

'themth'ey become heated and break or burn away.

In an arrangement such as that shown,

where the conductors of a high-tension circuit are 'connected through'fuses withthe -primaryconductors ofl electric converters,

'In place oli a fuse it is possible to -employ*v other apparatus'which operates 'to open the high-'pressure branch when too much energy is being exerted in it and lin the correspondv ing low-pressure circuit." -Thus an electromagnet may be provided in the highfpres's- 35.51re circuit with an armature which is normall'y held oft by-a spring, but when undue energy is .developed is attracted, and in moving opens the high-pressure branch circuit,

' Fig. 7 is a'plan of the fuse' apparatus asl 4 tached at oncend to a right-angled lever a., .and atthe other is retained by a bolt b, passingthrough an eye at the end of the fuse'. A coiled spring c tends to withdrawA the bolt -45 d with the angle-lever abelongiug to the other fuse. When one fuse breaks, theretainingbolt is instantly withdrawn from the other- 5o 4and the'circuit. is opened' in both-branches practically sinnultaneously.A

The general constructionof convertershown' linl Figs.' 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, involving the closed magneticcircuits, is claimed in my Patents Q are the high-tension? 5 mains. They are connected by branches W', 2 the4 converters X' and-v They are copper wires so proportioned thairifan und ne amount of energy isexerted through prefer to construct it. Eachfuse- Z 'is atfrom the eye; but the bolt is keptin place byv being connected through aninsulatingblock.

Nos. 389,795 and 389,838, granted upon applt- 55 .cations that' were 'divisions of this case.

1.- An electrical 'converter 'consisting of' a. core. composedof strips, ribbons, or layers et .iron forniing'closed4 magnet-iccircuits, and 6o pri-mary andV secondary coils, one sperposed upon the other, and each. wound in sections or. convolutions, the adjacent sections, convointions, or portions. of each coil being sep-X arated vby airspaces-, and lairspaces being 65 left between the inner coil and' the core andthe outercoil andfthe core, substantially as set forth.

2. .A converter consisting of a core having ,primary and secondary coils, one superposedjo upon thefother, and each wound in sections or convolutions,'tl1e adjacent sections, con-'- volutions, or portionsof each coilbeing-s'eparated by the air-spaces, and the convolutions of the outer coil bridging the spaces between. 75 vthe'convolntions of the inner coil, whereby.

coil, substantiallyas fietrforth.

. 3. In a converter, a core made-np of magair-spaces are left between -th'e core'and outer netically independent'sections or layers of 8o .iron arranged in several groups, the groups being separated freineach other by inter#- veing airspaces,'in combination with each wound in sections or ccnvolutions, and

havingtheadjacent sections'orconvolutions 85 I of each'coil separated .hymn-Spaces'. 4. A .cut-out apparatus. consisting GSMQ.

Y"fuses, one in eachbranch ofthe circuit, and" springs held compressed or strained. by'. auch fuses, and mechanismv worked bythe spring .9o.

-liberated by the burning of a fuse tojustantaneonsly disconnect the other fusersubstantialiy as described.

5.' The combination, in 'an electrical converter, of a core `composed-of strips 'or layers 95 of iron forming aseries of insulated closed metallicv circuits, a spiral vcopper rod-forming .the secondary coil of the converter surronnding the core, insulating-chairs supporting the rod- .and preventing contact with the core, an 'roo iusulatingcovering roverthe spiral, and the primary coil covering thespiral. l

J S. Z. DE

'WitnesseszI v ARTHUR R. SKERTEN,

- 4HERBERT E. DALE, Both of ,17 'Gracechurch'Streen London. E'. C. 

